Have you ever eaten a flower?

This was the question my son asked me when my hubby and I finally went on a honeymoon in Hawaii.  We called him from eating lunch in Kailua.  (Aaaah.)

Serendipity:  As soon as he asked me this, my food came and an edible orchid was on my plate.  I told him about it, then I had my husband take a picture of me eating it and texted it to our boy.  The orchid tasted like red cabbage.  Not bad!

I was definitely the cool mom then!

For the next few weeks, every time we went to a garden shop, home store, or even a garden he asked the store workers, “Where are the flowers were that I can eat?”

I discovered that dandelion flowers were edible.  So, before we sprayed our yard (Yeah, I know… chemicals), we tasted one.  Tasted like… nothing.

Then I discovered that yellow daylily blooms were edible.  So we each tried a petal from one that was blooming in our yard.  Again… tasted like nothing.

Recently, I harvested a basil stem from my garden. I put it on my kitchen window sill in a glass votive candle holder filled with water to keep it fresh.   I was pleasantly surprised when it rooted and grew! Hooray!  The basil began to bloom, so I  let my boy taste a flower from my baby basil plant. It definitely had a taste.

“It’s poison!” he said.

“No, it’s basil,” I said. “We usually eat the leaves.  Here, try a leaf.”

So he did.  And he liked it.  My “Mikey” is trying new things!

Later, my son calls to me, “Mom, are the stems edible?”

“Yep!” I call back.

A few minutes later I walk into the kitchen to get my baby basil plant and transplant it into the garden.  The glass it was in is empty.  I look in the trash. I can’t find it anywhere.

“Hey, have you seen my basil plant?”

“Yep.  I ate it.”

“The whole plant???”

“Yep, you said it was edible, mom!”

“Did you like it?”

“Yep!”

Guess I have to start watching my garden more closely.  I may walk out and the basil “bush” that it out there may just be gone.